The Devilers #1 Review

The Devilers is a monsters and demons type of story that is sure to please any horror fan. Joshua Fialkov is building his own mythology in this series, and the artwork from Matt Triano and coloring by Mark Roberts help bring it to life.

The story follows a priest named Father Malcolm O’Rourke, who has a differing opinion on demons from the church. His different beliefs in demons stem from an encounter he had with one when he was a child. Early on in the book a panicked Cardinal finds Malcolm and tells him that a group of demons are marching out of Hell and walking the Earth. The Cardinal takes Malcolm to the site of where the demons are coming out of Hell and is introduced to a small group of people. The people have special abilities that are supposed to be able to help them battle the demons. The book ends with the group standing together and what they see… Well, you’ll have to read it for yourself.

Joshua Hale Fialkov got my attention with this story. He’s laying the groundwork for this whole new mythology, and every step so far is compelling. You can tell that he has a lot planned for this series as you read through the first book. There are a lot of things that he just gives you short glimpses of and little teases here and there. He does a great job of getting you hooked and making you want to see the next issue.

We didn’t get a lot of time with the characters in the group that will be fighting the demons, but what little we did get to see was some great character work. They dialogue between the characters was very genuine and they all played off of each other nicely. I’m looking forward to getting to know them more as the series goes on.

Matt Triano does an excellent job of giving this story some mind blowing visuals and unique panels. The designs for the demons that Triano came up with are so strange and bizarre that they became my favorite parts of the book. My personal favorite was something that looked something like a hippopotamus head on a giant spider’s body. That’s not something I ever thought I’d get excited about, but Triano pulled it off. There’s also a panel where a demonic frog is giving the middle finger to to the cardinal that is hilarious. Just like Fialkov’s writing, Triano’s artwork shows us that we have a lot to look forward to as this series moves forward.

I have to take a moment to mention the coloring work by Mark Roberts. This book has a dark tone to it and Roberts made sure that the coloring matched that. Throughout the book the colors are kept muted or toned down and it gives off an old school horror vibe that adds to the thrill.

The Devilers is a welcomed addition to the world of horror. Packed with incredible artwork from start to finish and a captivating story, Devilers is on it’s way to becoming horror classic.

Story: 5/5
Art: 5/5
Overall: 5/5

Josh Gillam is the creator and writer for the webcomic/comedy project, Cynical Stew. You can follow him on Twitter at @Cynical_Stew